Cert 15 | 95 mins | 1964
4 Star
Out of the Cesspit and Into the Firing Line.
From the renowned writer/director Kinji Fukasaku (Battle Royale, Virus) comes one of his early works, brought to us by Eureka (Masters of Cinema) Special Edition. This dark and gritty film shows the seedier side of Japans poor and the squalor they are trying to escape. Being filmed in black-and-white makes it…more
Cert PG | 105 mins | 1978
3 Star
Cult Japanese Knock-off.
Writer/director Kinji Fukasaku (Battle Royale, Virus) brings us a way-out-there Sci-fi opera that will blow your mind, as planets are ravaged, people massacred and irreverent punk kids are expected to be heroes. With a very similar story and attempts at visual effects done on a budget, compared to a film that came a year before, Message From…more
Cert 15 | 291 mins | 1968-69
5 Star
A Woman Scorned!
From the pen of writer/director Norifumi Suzuki (Sex & Fury, Truck Rascals) comes the start of an eight film series. This Eureka Blu-ray release sees these three films fully restored to 1080 HD, and they have done a cracking job of all three films as Sumiko Fuji (Summer Wars, Omocha) takes on the lead role as a…more
Cert 15 | 267 mins | 1965
5 Star
The Start of a Long Journey.
Prolific Japanese filmmaker Teruo Ishii (Female Yakuza Tale, Gensen-Kan Inn) brings us Abashiri Prison. Based on the 1956 novel of the same name by Hajime Itō, Ishii wrote the script as a remake of the 1958 American film The Defiant Ones. This is the first recognized Yakuza film, starting a long-running series of films…more
Cert 12 | 102 mins | 1975
5 Star
The Last of a Great Era.
Written and directed by famed Wuxia filmmaker King Hu (A Touch of Zen, Raining in the mountain) is this sword based action Tour de Force, which takes us back to the thirteenth Century, as the Chinese take on Japanese pirates. It is down to a Colonel and his retainers and a married couple to…more
Cert PG | 88 mins | 1957
5 Star
A Mountain out of an Ant Hill
This highly controversial Anti-War film was co-written and directed by Stanley Kubrick (2001: A Space Odyssey, Full Metal Jacket, The Killing), based on the novel of the same name by Humphrey Cobb (San Quentin). Kubrick made this film aged just twenty-eight, and he paints a vivid portrait of the futility of the slaughter…more
Cert 15 | 144 mins | 1966-67
4 Star
Death in Monochrome.
Eureka bring us two classic chambara productions from the late 1960s, from the genre’s master, writer/director Hideo Gosha (VIOLENT STREETS, Yakuza Ladies) who takes inspiration from the spaghetti western popular in the West at the time and puts his spin on the lone warrior fighting for the little people. In these two features, he makes great use of…more
